NASA wants to use soccer-sized balloon to put satellite into orbit

As part of his short story mission ASTHROS (Astrophysics Stratospheric Telescope for High Spectral Resolution Observations at submillimeter-wavelengths), NASA plans to deploy a stratospheric balloon 150 meters wide , equipped with an infrared telescope, which will aim to study star feedback. This football, the size of a soccer field, will be placed 40 kilometers above the Antarctic.

It will carry a 2.5-meter telescope which is equipped with several instruments capable of observing infrared lights, invisible to the naked eye. In order to preserve the integrity of this high altitude telescope, NASA has equipped it with a cryogenic cooler that will allow it to keep its detectors at a temperature of -451.3 ° F, or -232 ° C.

Credits Pixabay

If all goes as planned, the ASTHROS mission will take off by 2023.

A mission that will allow NASA to save money

The mission ASTHROS prefeels many advantages for NASA.

By opting to use a balloon to transport its telescope, the US space agency is saving a lot of money in this time of crisis that followed the Coronavirus pandemic. What is more, the design of this kind of balloon is easier. This is a huge time saver for NASA.

However, carrying out this kind of mission always involves risks, as Jose Siles, engineer of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory points out. :

"Missions like this are riskier than space missions, but they yield high rewards at a modest cost."

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ASTHROS will attempt to unravel the secret of the stars

ASTHROS will notably have to observe the newly formed stars within the Carina nebula. For three to four weeks, the telescope will study four specific targets, including the star TW Hydrae.

Its mission will be to measure the presence of nitrogen ions which can "reveal places where massive star winds and supernova explosions reshaped gas clouds in these star-forming regions. The success of ASTHROS will allow NASA to prepare for its future missions.

"With ASTHROS, we aim to make astrophysical observations that have never tried to do before. The mission will pave the way for future space missions by testing new technologies and training the next generation of engineers and scientists, explained Jose Siles.

See also: NASA wants to return to the moon in 2024